Hogwarts: Through the War
by Rain Darkwood
Chapter 4
The Arrival
By the time the Hogwarts Express slowed and came to a stop outside the grounds of Hogwarts, Zero's head had stopped spinning and come back to normal; he had taken a nap with the radio still on, the melodic tunes bringing him occasionally out of his sleep. Feeling only slightly lightheaded as he stood swaying to his feet, Zero reached above him to the luggage racks and extracted his briefcase. He quickly made sure that everything was there, and that his broom and gun were properly strapped on. He turned and grasped the handle, attempting to slide the door open a few times before realizing he had placed a padlock on it.
"Ugh," he grunted, and removed the padlock with a wave of his wand. As he slid the door open and stepped into the corridor, he gazed up and down the rows, again trying to get a feel for how many people were onboard. Only a few people were still inside the train; it seemed Zero had taken his time coming out of his reverie and leaving the compartment. Ahead of him two older students were talking quietly and heading for the exit of the train. Zero wondered how things may have operated differently in the years before Voldemort's return... students milling about and talking animatedly, happily carrying their trunks away to another exciting year of magical learning. He looked back down to the floor as he walked, not wanting to think about it. Voldemort's return meant many more things than all of these people could understand - horrors would be unleashed that many of them had never even heard of, and worse yet, horrors that Zero himself had never hear the likes of. The fact that Torch O'Malley was working with Voldemort was enough to mean terror could be hiding around any corner.
Torch O'Malley, the infamous american mercenary Zero and the Order had run into earlier, was capable of terrible things. What was worse was the fact that perhaps only Zero and Remus Lupin had even recognized the creature. And Zero had been unfortunate enough to meet him before. Torch O'Malley's wand was for hire to the highest bidder, no matter who that bidder was, and Torch had been known to commit unspeakable crimes for his "clients". Torch led a personal team of wizard mercenaries, the Lotus Moon, each hand chosen for their abilities and lack of compassion for human life. Torch himself had earned the nickname of "the Samurai Warlock", due to his brutal style of using slashing physical attacks with his wand, much like the effects of "sectumsempra". His victims were typically found bloody and torn, brutalized as if by sword slashes. His personal protege and first mate was the woman known as "Black Rose" - a deadly master thief and asassin. Zero did not know anything else about the Lotus Moon, except that there were other members. Indeed, the fact that these american killers were working with Lord Voldemort meant certain danger for the Order. Zero resolved to ask Remus Lupin how much he knew about Lotus Moon as soon as he had a chance to speak to him alone.
Zero stepped off of the train and onto a wooden platform, which elongated into a dock at one end, and led to wide dirt path on the other. Looking around, he saw that the dock was not being used, and that several carriages drawn by horse-like creatures were using the dirt path to approach a castle up ahead, which must be Hogwarts. He stopped momentarily to admire the castle, which was truly a sight to see. Rising into the darkening sky, with towers seemingly in each direction, Hogwarts seemed something out of an adventure novel. Complete with a giant front door and battlements and wide, green lawns, Hogwarts was a dream. Zero sighed quietly and looked back to the path. All of the carriages had disappeared, and he felt a quick shock in his chest, wondering how he would get up to the castle.
"Zero!" A voice called to Zero from behind, and turning, he saw several figures approaching. Remus Lupin had called to him, flanked by Tonks and a tiny wizard who seemed quite excitable. As they approached Zero, the small wizard squeaked and nearly tripped over a raised plank. "Zero. Allow us to lead you to the castle. There really is more that we should discuss on the way, isn't there?"
Zero wondered to himself is Lupin was talking about Torch. "Yes, I'm sure there is." He looked toward tonks. "Are you teaching here as well, erm, Tonks?"
She smiled back, in an interestingly similar fashion to Lupin's. "No, but all members of the Order are staying at Hogwarts as it is the current headquarters. I'm also an Auror for the ministry, so it was easy for me to ensure an assignment to Hogwarts, there are lots of us assigned here. Professor Flitwick here does teach, though." She gestured to the little wizard beside her.
Professor Flitwick beamed and extended his hand, which Zero shook. "I believe we've met before, Zero!" he squeaked. Thinking back, Zero remembered him, from back in his days helping Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. Little Flitwick had been just the same then, a small ball of excited energy, masking his abilities as a wizard. Zero remembered quite well how Flitwick had fought valiantly against Death Eaters, better than many wizards he had seen.
"I remember you very well, Flitwick! It's very good to see you again. What subject do you teach here?"
"Charms, Charms!" Flitwick responded, obviously quite proud of himself, and nearly tripping over backwards in his haste to stand up straight and proud.
"We'll need to follow this path here," Lupin interjected, gesturing toward the path that the carriages had traveled down. "We've already passed the outer shell of enchantments coming in here on the train, but I'd like to show you the defensive measures we have employed nearer to the castle. Shall we press on, then?" Zero nodded readily and they began up the dirt path. Lupin and Tonks led the way, and Zero and Flitwick followed.
It was several minutes of walking during which they were merely passing between the edge of the great shimmering lake, and the dark outlines of a forest. After a minute or two, Zero broke the silence. "So, Remus, what is you wanted to discuss, other than the defensive measures of course?"
An awkward silence followed this for a few seconds, and then Lupin replied rather baldly, "I think we ought to discuss what the presence of Torch O'Malley could mean to the Order."
Zero had been expecting this response, but was unsure how to reply. He did not have to, Tonks was the first to speak. "I really don't know much about him. Why is he such an important issue?"
Zero found his voice this time and replied quickly. "Torch is a mass-murderer, plain and simple. Beyond anything that any of the Dark Lord's followers has accomplished, Torch is the epitome of evil and uncaring. He makes his money with murder, and doesn't wait for the Dark Lord to start a war to do it. All of his life he has been murdering people, he's a cold-hearted professional." Zero sighed heavily. "I'm ashamed to acknowledge that he comes from my home country."
Tonks looked up at Lupin in the silence, waiting for him to reply, but he did not. After a minute of silence, Zero continued.
"And it isn't as if fighting Torch means facing one man. He has followers! A hand-picked team of ruthless murderers, and I don't know who is among the members. All I know is that they call themselves the Lotus Moon, and that Torch leads them, with his lover Black Rose."
Lupin finally spoke up. "There are only two other members." There was silence once more. They waited impatiently to hear what he had to say. Lupin continued. "They are no less frightening than the first two. I know very little about the third member, whose name is Darren Skye. From all accounts, he is quite insane. It makes sense, doesn't it, that Torch would choose a mentally disabled man for his team of murderers?"
Zero nodded silently, unsure of whether or not the others could even see this in the dark. "I have not heard anything about him. Who is the fourth, Lupin?"
Lupin did not reply for several seconds. "...He is not somebody I would like to discuss, but I will." He paused again, and Zero could tell that he was gathering himself.
"He is a vampire," Lupin said simply, and paused yet again before continuing. "They call him Silent Jack, because he supposedly never speaks. From all acounts, he seems to relish his curse rather than be ashamed of it - he lusts openly for blood. Not that he isn't a gentleman," Lupin said with a small forced laugh. "He supposedly is quite friendly to his comrades. But stories of his exploits in battle are horrible, even to read. His victims are found eviscerated and ripped beyond recognition. That is all that can be said about him at this moment."
There was a disgusted silence following his words. Zero could not rid himself of the images which ahd been conjured in his mind. Finally, Flitwick spoke up, breaking the silence. "What do these people have to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Order?"
Lupin responded to this as well. "Torch was among those attacking us at the train station, Professor. His comrades were not with him however, so I suppose Torch did not consider it an important attack. What worries me directly about that is that if Torch's teammates did not assist him in that battle, where were they? I am afraid that something may have been happening elsewhere and that Torch was acting as a distraction, or perhaps making sure that the ministry's attention was at the train. I am nervous to discover what may be in tomorrow's Daily Prophet."
Zero spoke up immediately. "But what if Torch is working alone for Voldemort?" The other three shivered audibly in the darkness. Flitwick squeaked in the darkness.
"Perhaps living in another country gives you the luxury of not worrying about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but please remember that we do not speak His name here!"
"I apologize, I've forgotten."
Lupin replied to to Zero's inquiry. "As long as Torch and his followers have been working together, none has ever worked on solo projects away from the team. Given that Torch is the very founder of the group, I think it unlikely that he would split from them to work with the Dark Lord. More than likely, the others would jump at the chance to have plenty of people to kill." Lupin pointed ahead. "We'll have to end the discussion for now. We are approaching the inner defenses of the castle."
Zero looked ahead of Lupin, and thoughts of Lotus Moon disappeared from his mind. Ahead was a shimmering wall which was nearly invisible, glimmering in and out of view. Directly in front of them was a gate, of the same shimmering material.
Lupin gestured to the gate. "It's called Godric's wall. Professor Flitwick's masterpiece." In the glow of the gate, Zero could see Lupin smile and bow to Professor Flitwick, who squeaked excitedly and took over the explanation.
"It took 10 hours for me to create it! Named after Godric Gryffindor, and it's the first of four defenses against invaders! Approaching it, you will see your reflection in the wall. It will reflect your inner self and become unopenable if you are not pure of heart! At all other times it is completely open. Are you up for the challenge, Zero?"
Zero hesitated, reminded of his affection for certain excesses. After a few quick seconds of self-inspection, he decided he had no choice but to give it a shot. As he stepped forward to the gate, the others hung back, waiting. Zero approached the gleaming barricade, and gazed at his reflection as it, too walked forward from the other side. He stopped three feet from the gate, watching his reflection. He expected something to happen, and watched as his reflection gazed back at him, looking as confused as Zero.
Flitwick spoke from behind him. "Well, give it a try, open it!"
Zero looked away from his reflection and saw a ridiculously large doorknob, which reminded him of the door from Alice in Wonderland. He nearly expected a face to pop out around the bulbous knob and start honking nonsensical things at him. He reached forward and grasped the handle slowly, allowing his fingers to curl around the curves of the knob. He began to turn the handle and was horrified to find it would not turn.
And then it turned. It had only stuck for a split second, and Zero's heart leaped in his chest. His reflection smiled back at him happily, although he was sure he had not smiled.
Flitwick squeaked loudly behind him. "Look, it works! Fantastic, fantastic! Splendid job Zero, splendid!" Zero sighed gratefully, exhaling a lungful of air. The others came up behind him, laughing lightly and clapping him on the back.
Lupin smiled in his faint way and said quietly to Zero, "Perhaps you aren't as bad as you think you are."
End of Chapter 4
Okay, so we've seen the first of the three defenses against invaders of Hogwarts, and it seems pretty impenetrable, doesn't it? In the next chapter we'll get to see the other two, and our first gimpse of Hogwarts during this trying time. The next chapter is sure to be exciting, so tune in and remember to Read and Review! Tell me what you think, and have a hand in how this story goes on!